By FRANCIS JOSEPH
Well, Trinidad and Tobago Football plunged into further crisis on Thursday night with defeat 0-1 to Curacao at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad.
What does that defeat mean for the national senior men’s team?
Certainly relegation from the Concacaf Nations League Group A.
Our problems even deepened as Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua 3-0 on Thursday night. The national team has now lost all three matches. The team previously lost 2-3 to Haiti in Jamaica, and 1-2 to the Dominican Republic at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. The final round takes place this Sunday in Trinidad against Curacao, who have won all three of their matches.
The local team was plagued by suspensions and injuries, the latest being captain Levi Garcia.
So where does this leave Trinidad and Tobago Football?
Coach Derek King has not won a match since taking over the team from Dwight Yorke? Is is time to call in a foreign coach? When is the right time to start rebuilding? Are we capitalizing on the Grandfather Law?
Remember the Trinidad and Tobago public supports the national team when they are winning. Look at the crowd at the stadium last Sunday! Poor. Not surprising, because we have “no stars” in the line-up and we are losing every game.
Many people have asked the questions – when are we going to get a team like 1973, 1989, or even 2006 when we went to the World Cup in Germany?
Right now, we are struggling to beat the so called minnows in football. Teams like Curacao have blossomed to the big stage and we are being left behind.
Let’s us look at Thursday night’s match.
Molik Khan and Kobi Henry started as midfielder Daniel Phillips and Wayne Fredericks, who were red-carded on Sunday, were given four-match and one-game suspensions, respectively.
Bad luck for the local team when captain Levi Garcia went down clutching his hamstring in the 13th minute, with no player close to him.
From the very start, Curacao was on our case. Remember this is the same Curacao team who defeated Costa Rica 4-3 and Nicaragua 6-1 in their previous games.
We stood a great chance being goalless at half time. The deadlock was broken when Leandro Bacuna scored to give Curacao the lead. Then more bad luck for Trinidad and Tobago when Dantaye Gilbert was shown the red card for his second bookable offence for a tackle on Tahith Chong in the 70th minute.
When the final whistle came, it was 1-0 to Curacao and relegation in the air for our national team.
Despite what everyone says, the players are feeling down and something needs to be done to perk them up and restore pride and glory in the game.
